Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut its price target on MGE Energy to $78 from $79 and kept an "underweight" rating, implying roughly a 0.97% downside from the recent close.
• The MarketBeat consensus is a "Reduce" rating with an average price target of $80.50, based on two Hold ratings and one Sell.
• Shares trade around $78.76 with a $2.89B market cap and a 21.1x P/E; MGE Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.64 (meeting estimates) and a director recently bought 373 shares, raising their stake to 9,362 shares.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $79.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential downside of 0.97% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of MGE Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised MGE Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MGE Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $80.50.

MGE Energy Stock Performance

Shares of MGEE stock traded up $0.42 on Tuesday, hitting $78.76. The company had a trading volume of 60,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 170,356. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. MGE Energy has a twelve month low of $72.17 and a twelve month high of $94.00.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.64. The business had revenue of $189.55 million during the quarter. MGE Energy had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 18.27%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MGE Energy will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGE Energy news, Director James G. Berbee purchased 373 shares of MGE Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.74 per share, with a total value of $28,997.02. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $727,801.88. This trade represents a 4.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGE Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of MGE Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MGE Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 28.6% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.58% of the company's stock.

MGE Energy Company Profile

MGE Energy, Inc is a public utility holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Through its principal subsidiary, Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE), the company provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in south-central Wisconsin. MGE Energy's operations encompass the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity as well as the purchase and distribution of natural gas, with an emphasis on reliable service and system resilience.

Since reorganizing as a holding company in 2001, MGE Energy has expanded its portfolio to include nonregulated subsidiaries involved in renewable energy development, energy services and infrastructure support.

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